Leonor Fini (1908 - 1996)

Born in Argentina, Leonor Fini settles in Trieste with her mother as a baby, and precociously begins to paint at eight years old. In 1931, the artist moves to Paris where she makes friends with the members of the Surrealist movement such as André Breton, Max Ernst and Victor Brauner and attends the parties of the Noailles. Although she delivers art works inspired by the dreamlike aesthetic of the Surrealist group and is a participant of their exhibitions, Leonor Fini refuses to officially join the movement. In the meantime, the painter has also become a major figure of Parisian life, remarked by her extravagant outfits and her intriguing beauty that many photographers such as Erwin Blumenfeld and Lee Miller immortalize. The painter of cats and women in a strong erotic feel, Leonor Fini finally retired from the Surrealist environment and the surroundings of a misogynistic André Breton who believed women could not hold a central position in art. An observation she singularly contradicted.